In My Own Backyard [Paperback]

Judi Kurjian (Author), David R. Wagner (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Did you ever wonder who and what used to live where you do now? Strange beasts, dinosaurs, glaciers, and giant ferns? Take a trip back through time and discover the answer. Full-color illustrations capture moments in the earth's history with scientific accuracy.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Geologic time collapses into a single morning when a youngster peers through a bedroom window and wonders "how many people had stood where I was, looking at this very same place." Suddenly, the quiet landscape of garden, brook and mountain reverses its usual forward course toward noon and turns backward in time. A succession of scenes--showing, variously, people cutting hay with scythes; a sawmill and oxen teams; settlers; Native Americans celebrating a harvest--carry the reader deep into history. As the time trip gathers speed, the boy sees glaciers, dinosaurs, dense steamy air, swamps swelling into oceans and "a beach with hissing sulphur springs." Wagner's historically accurate oil paintings add to Kurjian's enthusiastic text an otherworldly mood which, along with the author's attention to details, awakens the reader to the awe of geologic time. Included is a time line presenting recent history (everything since the woolly mammoth) as a tiny fragment, and matching the names of epochs, periods and eras to the scenes depicted in the book. Ages 3-8.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From the Publisher

Also available in Spanish: En mi propio jard'n --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing (July 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881064440
• ISBN-13: 978-0881064445
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.9 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,383,039 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book!, August 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: In My Own Backyard (Hardcover)

In My Own Backyard by Judi Kurjian is great for any age. It is fascinating and scientific as it takes you back to the very beginnings of the earth. Each time-period rivets my attention. I love its captivating sense of mystery. I feel I am there in the excitement of each page. No other book I have ever read gives the depth of intrigue that In My Own Backyard gives. Each time I read it I get more and more joy. I never tire of reading it and looking at the beautiful illustrations that develop the haunting wonder of existence it captures on each page. I can't say enough about it. I wish every book were as good. I recommend it to everyone. There is no other book like it and I love it.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars lots of information, February 15, 2008

By 

Mary B. Costa "GranMary" (Maryland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: In My Own Backyard (Paperback)

This book is the format for a child 4 or 5 years old ( a pre-reader). Although the information and illustrations in it are good, I think it is too busy for a child that young. It's a gift, but I think I will have to do alot of explaining and I'm not sure how the concept of "ages" will be understood. We do not live in an area where some of the scenes could have taken place. It is good but will not be a favorite.